Home of the
Mariachi bands, Day of the Dead, tequila and sugar skulls: Mexico. You can read
as many articles about it as you like, but nothing compares to experiencing a
place for real.
We wanted to know what it was like travelling across Mexico, the people, the places and the culture! So we’ve asked Clare (who travelled through Mexico for 6 months with her partner in 2017) exactly what it was like, her favourite places and any words of wisdom for those looking to follow in her footsteps.
1. What made you decide on Mexico as a destination?
Mexico was somewhere that both my partner and I had wanted to visit for a long time. Even before we’d met each other. So it kind of just worked out that naturally that would be the first place we should visit together. I was drawn to it because it was in a totally different direction to where most of my friends had travelled to (i.e. Australia and Asia) and I had just fallen in love with everything that I’d read about the country and knew I absolutely had to be there for Day of the Dead.
2. How much research did you carry out ahead of your travels?
Well I had already done a fair bit in the past, when I’d be dreaming of visiting. But leading up to it, we looked into seasons (and which time of year would be best to visit), visas (we didn’t need to have one under a certain amount of time), injections (which we had quite a few of) and the route we wanted to take getting there. We ended up getting a 55 hour flight from Italy to Mexico, not only as it was the cheapest option, but it meant a stopover in Havana was possible!
3. What did your travel route look like and how did you go about planning it?
We didn’t have a detailed plan at all. We knew we would be flying into Mexico City and that a few months later we would fly home from Cancun. But we didn’t actually have the route detailed. We did have lists of places we wanted to go to if possible but we found that planning the route once we were there was much more flexible – and it allowed for detours and visiting places that were recommended by locals or fellow travellers.
4. What modes of transport did you use?
We used a plane to get there and also took some internal flights during our travels. It was sometimes around the same price and took a lot less time than buses.
Although we did also use the bus service – tickets could be bought in 1st, 2nd and 3rd classes (I would strongly recommend avoiding 3rd class as we spent a 13 hour bus journey next to an open-door over flowing toilet whereas some of the 2nd class buses were more luxurious than some airplanes). We also used the Metro in Mexico City which was super simple to navigate and only 10 pesos per ticket!
5. What was your favourite place to visit?
100% without a doubt Tulum. Although there were some strong contenders, nothing really compared to Tulum. Home of such a beautiful range of cenotes, we would spend the day biking round to a different ones and discovering the most amazing underwater worlds.
The beaches there were also absolutely stunning – like some kind of paradise out of your dreams and the local culture was just so wonderful to immerse yourself in. Akumal beach was also a total highlight – we were able to swim with rays, turtles, sharks and all kinds of sea creatures!
6. What locations would you recommend to fellow travellers?
I would definitely recommend Tulum, Akumal beach, Puerto Vallarta (the most amazing jungle city ever), Baja California Sur (especially Cerritos beach if you’re looking to surf, Todos Santos and La Paz which has a great bay for paddle boarding alongside whales and dolphins) and Merida which was the quaintest most Mexican little town you could imagine! There’s a town-wide bike ride on Sundays which is just such an amazing way to experience this place.
7. Any places to avoid?
Not in terms of
anything super negative. We found there wasn’t much to do in Campeche but we
did visit in low season so perhaps only consider this town if you are heading
there in the peak months. Although if you were just passing through for the day
you would have enough to keep you busy!
8. Items that you definitely need in your backpack?
Definitely bug spray, although you’ll find the ant bites more annoying than the mosquitos. I found that using toothpaste on the bites was actually really effective!
The lightest breeziest clothes you can think of – honestly it can be so humid. And actually some string. I always would wash our clothes in the sink and dry them in our room as often, the places we were staying wouldn’t have access to a laundry facility or an outdoor area. It was also super helpful for erecting our travel hammock on the beaches!
9. Best experience?
In Puerto Vallarta we were able to parasail over the bay which was incredible! But swimming with the turtles at the Grand Cenote and Akumal beach were definitely my favourite experiences. We actually got to help release baby turtles into the sea at one of the places we stayed – they would keep the turtles safe until dark so they could be released into the ocean at night when there wouldn’t be the danger of watersports. They were so tiny and squirmy and just absolutely beautiful!
10. Would you like to visit Mexico again?
Definitely. I
think I left a part of me in Tulum!
YES FOR TULUM 🙂 🙂